The Two Sams Read online

  She turned to Maude saying, “I have a dress or two you can have. Come with me.” Liz took the lamp and went into the bedroom. Maude followed.

  Joe asked, “Can I go to the barn now?”

  “Sure, I know you must be tired. Wait, I’ll get you a quilt.”

  Joe was so loaded down. He could hardly get off the porch. Sam could hear him saying, “Some day we-z had,” as he headed for the barn.

  Liz and Maude returned to the kitchen. Maude dressed in a blue dress falling right down to her ankles. “Now all you need is shoes,” said Liz.

  “No shoes for me,” Maude replied. “Ain’t ever had none no how.”

  Liz told her, “You’ll have some now.”

  Sam interjected with his idea. “I’ll make her some Indian shoes out of some buckskin. We have plenty in the barn. I used to wear em all the time.”

  Liz stretched and yawned and said, “It’s late, we must get to bed, it’s past my bed time. I’ll make a pallet for Maude by the fire. You go onto bed Sam.”

  “Yes Ma’am.” He headed to the bed room, undressed got in bed and went to sleep.

  Something woke him up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and there standing in the moonlight by the window was a naked Liz, with her un-braided blonde hair hanging down over her shoulders, covering her full rounded beautiful breasts. She was more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

  “I love you Liz, come to bed,” he called.

  “I love you too Sam. We better do it now, it’ll be some time before we can do it again.” She literally melted into his waiting arms.

  The sun was streaming into the bed room as Sam came alive. “It must be late?” he said as he stretched and jumped from the bed. “I’ve slept too long.” He could hear Liz’s voice coming from the kitchen. He dressed as fast as he could and went to the kitchen.

  Liz asked him, “How’s ham and eggs sound Sam?”

  “I need all the energy I can get after last night, sounds good to me.”

  “SAM, SAM!” Liz had anger in her voice. “Shut your mouth Sam.”

  Sam laughed. Maude looked up from her work at the stove, she was smiling. “Maude knows what married folks do,” Sam said.

  Liz frowned and came back with, “I understand Maude and Joe ain’t married, did you know that Sam?”

  “I didn’t think about it.” Sam asked, “Does it make any difference?”

  “On our place, there’ll be nobody living in adultery. Sam’s we must take them with us to church Sunday and get em hitched. I’m sure our preacher will do it, okay with you?” Liz by the tone of her voice, wouldn’t be denied.

  Sam came back, “Okay by me. Yer gonna make the white folks mad, taking our blacks there. They ain’t gonna like it.”

  “I don’t care if they don’t.” Liz was positive in her voice.

  Sam asked, “Has Joe had his breakfast?”

  “Yes,” Liz replied. “I fixed them a table out on the porch, that’s what they wanted.”

  “I’m gonna eat and go on down to the barn, see what’s going on,” He told Liz.

  He finished and walked to the barn. Inside he saw the stalls were cleaned, fresh straw in place, the whole barn raked cleaned.

  “Joe, where are you?” he called.

  “I-za out here in tis pen.”

  Sam pushed the gate open, went on into the pen. He could see the mules were groomed and eating. Joe was working on the horses.

  “Them’s da littlest mules I done see. Where da come from?” Joe asked.

  “They’re Spanish mules, smaller than Arkansas mules,” Sam told him.

  “Kinda mean ain’t da?”

  “No not really, you gotta work slow around em. They’re the best traveling animals you can have. Go all day at a trot, outlast any horse or big mule you’ve ever seen.”

  “I see-d they travel really well when we were on da roads. Sure air little ones. They shore fussily. I believe you’s when you’s say go slow. One shore did its best to kick on me.”

  Sam laughed. “My wife wants you and Maude to get hitched next Sunday at our church. Okay with you Joe?”

  “It shore is.” Joe said with a big grin showing his white teeth.

  Sunday morning found the two couples in the spring wagon on the road to church. Half mile from the church Mr. O’Reilly passed them in his buggy, driving his black pacer. Sam could hear Joe remark, “Da- at’s some horse.”

  Sam leaned over to Liz and said, “That man has got an eye for horses.” She nodded her approval.

  The congregation was gathering as they drove up. All in their Sunday best. Liz could hear one lady saying, “What did they bring them Niggers for? This is white Folks church.”

  Liz heard it plain as could be. Her Irish blood boiled over. She turned on the crowd and the lady with fire in her eyes and voiced, “These people are here with me to get married in God’s House, you can like it or lump it, I don’t give a rip whether you give a sh-t or not.”

  Liz never cussed before in her whole life. At least where someone could hear her. This was a time she wasn’t ashamed to let her feelings go.

  “There’ll be no unmarried couples living on our place, ever. I don’t care if they’re white, black, green or whatever, they have to be married and if your Niggers isn’t, you’re in just as much sin as they are.” She threw up her head, shoulders back and marched into the church.

  O’Reilly could be heard saying, “What a woman! I love that woman.”

  After the church service, Liz apologized to the preacher for using bad language. The black couple sat on a bench under an open church window and sang along with the congregation. Songs they had heard from their past, coming from the white peoples’ church on the plantation, they had come from.

  After the church service the black couple was married by the preacher man, under a large oak tree. Some of the white people from the church stayed for the joining of the couple. Later at home a few people from the neighboring farms came. Mr. O’Reilly had passed the word. He brought all his blacks for the celebration. Fried chicken and watermelons were had all round. A few black people brought their music instruments. Dancing broke out. It was a merry bunch that Sunday afternoon on the Duncan farm.

  The next few months were spent rebuilding the cabin. New roof shingles were cut and nailed in place. A new door was built. New glass windows were installed and last the fire place was rebuilt. Liz and Maude made a new feather bed for the cabin. The black couple moved in.

  The rest of the summer, the living was easy, the catfish were biting in the creek, the fruit orchard outdid itself, the grass grew tall, the cows gave lots of milk and cream. Butter was churned. The chickens laid so much, Liz and Maude took eggs and sold them in the little village on the east road.

  Liz had her companion and helper. Sam had good help and the summer turned to fall. The crops came in and were harvested. The fall turned to winter. The babies came due. Maude’s came first, then Liz had hers. Both women had boys, nice healthy boys. Maude and Joe named theirs Little Joe. Liz and Sam followed with Little Sam. It was joy to the world that winter on the Duncan farm.

  Bill O’Reilly had set up a church meeting place on his farm for his blacks and blacks on the adjoining farms. He also found a black fire preaching, preacher for the flock. He had talked most of the farms into letting their blacks attend and the people came. There was a lot of singing. Hal-la-lu-ya’s and a-mens could be heard coming from those meetings. Even the little ones were getting some schooling. Liz had made a difference in the community of the blacks.

  Time passed, one year, two years. In the third year both Liz and Maude gave birth to boys again. The blacks named theirs Josh. Liz and Sam named theirs Jackson and called him Jack.

  The times had been too good. It just couldn’t last. Sam had borrowed money to keep the farm going. It was getting close to pay back time. A drought had hit and a depression was covering the whole country in the late 1830’s. Sam had to tighten things up. Three more years and he had to go for money to pay on
his last loan. It kept building up. He showed a happy face but inside he was hurting really badly. He knew it would come to a head soon and it did.

  He drove over to see Bill O’Reilly to ask advice. A mammy ushered Sam into Bill’s bedroom. She said he was feeling poorly. O’Reilly sat up and greeted Sam with a smile. “Not feeling so good,” explained Bill. “Probably don’t look so good, been down for a couple weeks now.”

  “What seems to be the trouble?”

  “Have a lot of chest pain, and can’t seem to get my breath. I’ll get over it soon. Had it before and it always went away.”

  “That’s too bad.” Sam was concerned. “Hope you’re up and better soon.”

  “What-ja want-a to see me about?” asked Bill.

  “My troubles aren’t yours, I don’t want to bother you.”

  “Be my guest, what’s friends for?”

  “I’m in trouble with my loan, can’t seem to get enough money together to pay it back.”

  “Don’t feel bad Sam, I’m in the same boat, borrowed way more than I should have, can’t get my money together either.”

  “You?” Sam said surprised. “I thought you were all set for life.”

  “Not hardly, this depression and prices set us all back. I’m in bad shape. I have the whole dang place mortgaged to the hilt, all but my blacks. If the worst comes I’ll free the blacks and to hell with the rest of the world. Sam, some times you have to cut and run.”

  “I hate to bother you more,” Sam told him. “I just have my land mortgaged. The tools and stock are free. I’ll do the same with my blacks. This old farming is a hell of a life. Get well Bill. I’ll send Liz over to cheer you up.”

  With that Bill smiled. Sam bid him goodbye gave a hug to Mammy on the way out and drove home.

  He told Liz about Bill. “He shore don’t look too good. His lips are purple.”

  “I’ll go over in the morning and cheer him up, if it’s okay with you?” Liz said.

  “You bet, he’d like seeing you. I think he’s been in love with you since the day he met you,” Sam said proudly.

  “Sam, I got a letter from my sister, Jane. She married Walter Johnson. Do you remember him ? He did the books for my papa at the docks.”

  “I seem to recollect, he was a tall lanky fellow? He never had much to say, at least not to me. He was always well dressed.” Sam was scratching his head as he spoke.

  “That’s him. Seems he’s got a job with the government running a Indian reservation over in the nations. He needs help. Jane wants to know if we can come help them run their agency. She says they need help bad. He bit off a lot more than he can chew. We could go over and help if things don’t work out here.” Liz was trying to make Sam feel better. Sam told her he would go in the morning and ask the banker if he would extend his loan.

  Morning came, with it bad news. Bill had passed in the night. All who knew this fine man were heart sick. Liz broke down and cried all that day.

  The service was short and very sad. All who were there had nothing but good words to say about Bill, his blacks were heart broken, many cried and wailed all during the service.

  Bill was a man of his word. He had papers made, that gave freedom to all his blacks. There would no mistake, they were all set free. Most packed their belongings and started walking as a group, north the next day.

  Some of Bill’s blacks wanted to stay. The foreman Jon Henry who was Bill’s oldest black, gave a talk to the remaining people saying, “You have to move on, some whites won’t honor Master O’Reilly’s paper. Y-all must go while the getting’s good.” All the rest of the blacks packed and headed north walking to the free states.

  Sam rose early. Hardly had anything to eat for breakfast. He rode one of the mules to town to see the banker.

  The meeting turned sour almost immediately. Sam could feel the hostility in the room, as soon as he entered. He had known and heard talk that some people had desires on his place. The banker turned on him in a belligerent voice saying, “Duncan, your loan is past due. You got no more time. Get out now or I’ll send the law to put you out.”

  The man’s manners and harsh words had Sam boiling mad. If it wasn’t for Liz, he would give this son of a gun a bad beating but he just shook his head in disgust. As he started to leave, he turned back and said to the banker, “We’ll leave, I only have the land mortgaged, not our tools or stock. We’ll be out in a few days. You keep away until we’re gone or so help me I’ll be back and it won’t be very damn pleasant for you, you low down money grubber.”

  He turned on his heels and stormed out. On the way home he cussed the banker and said to himself how people with money think they own the whole damn world, he never said cuss words where Liz would hear him.

  At home he came in, dropped into his rocking chair, put his face in his hands and said, “Liz I’ve made a bad mess of things. They won’t give us more time. We have to get out. I’m sorry Liz, I know how you loved this place.”

  She could see he was hurting. “It’s not so bad.” She was very sympathetic. “It’s not the end of the world, lots of folks have had to let their places go. I hear folks are going west to homestead all the time.”

  Sam looked up, tears in his eyes. She tried her best to soothe him saying, “We have each other and the boys. No one could have done better.” Sam just shook his head. Liz said “Let’s go on over to the nations. Maybe it’ll be just the thing for us.”

  Sam couldn’t say anything. He was sick at heart. He just shook his head.

  Liz told him, “Let’s get a good nights sleep, you’ll see things better in the morning.”

  Next morning Sam sent for Joe, “We’ve got to move on. I’ve lost this place to the bank. You go hitch up the big wagon. We’ll take our stock and tools over on the east road and sell what we can.”

  They sold all the things they took. People like bargains.

  On the way home Sam told Joe to load his belongs in the spring wagon in the morning. “Come help us to load the big wagon, as soon as you’re done.”

  At the farm each went to their own house. Sam was more sick at heart than ever to have lost his farm.

  Next morning the wagons were loaded. With one cow in tow, a few chickens and some farm tools, the two families were on the road by noon, on their way north. The third day found them outside Ft. Smith, Arkansas. They camped for a few days. Sam went to town several times.

  Early one morning Sam and Liz told Joe and Maude they’re free and handed them their papers of freedom. Joe and Maude both threw up their hands and cried. “We-z don’t know where to go, what to do, we want’s to go with you’s.”

  Sam is stern. “We’re going into the nations, there’s still slavery there, you won’t be safe. Joe, you and Maude have earned your freedom, go north until you reach a free state. Joe, you’re the best hand I ever saw, you can do anything, shoe horses, farm as good as any man. The man who hires you will get a real helper. Take the spring wagon and the mules. You can have my shot gun, I have a few dollars for you. You can hunt and fish on the way, keep going north till you find a place you like.”

  Joe and Maude could see his mind was made up. With misgivings they agreed, many tears were shed by both families.

  The next morning, with heavy hearts, Joe and Maude hitched the mules to the spring wagon. With their two boys, they headed the little wagon on the road north. Sam and Liz watched until they were out of sight. With broken hearts they turned their wagon west and a new life.

  Chapter 4

  Death Comes Early

  It took several days to reach the Choctaw Indian Agency. Jane and Walter welcomed them with open arms. Walter showed them a house they could have to live in, it was pretty run down. No one had lived in it for quite a few years. Liz told Sam they could have it in shape in no time. In the mean time Walter said they could bed down in a room in the house with them.

  Sam and Liz had the house in good shape in a few days and moved in. The two boys soon had Indian children as play mates. Sam began his
duties as a farm instructor to the Choctaws. The Indians were more than willing to learn the white mans ways.

  Liz spent her time teaching the women cooking on a stove and sewing on a peddle machine. Most had never seen a stove, let alone cook on one and most of the women had never seen a sewing machine. Liz found the squaws ready and willing to learn, she also found they were smart and fun.

  Sam’s help was teaching his charges ways of handling horses and mules and general farm duties. The farm work and harnessing of horses and mules was new to the Indians, farm work was not a natural thing for the men, most had always hunted, fished and play games with their horses, it took time. Most of the men finally took to farming, when the crops began to grow, the Indian farmers became proud of their labors.

  The government gave each family livestock and farm equipment. Soon the white man started to trade the Indians out of this stock and equipment for just a few jugs of whiskey.

  Walter and Sam had to devise a way to stop this practice. There was no law on the Choctaw at the time. Sam gave it all the attention he could. Liz told him she had the idea to brand, “I Don’t Trade” on the stock and all the wagons and farm equipment. If a white man had an IDT brand in his possession, it would have to be given back. This stopped the whites and their trading.

  Whisky runners became a big problem. Sam and Walter punished the Indians who used the drink by keeping them locked up in the agency jail until they promised to quit.

  As his two boys grew, Sam used them to help school the Indians in their way of working with horses, gentle and kind. Both Jack and young Sam became good hands with the horses and mules. Sam was proud of them both.

  Young Sam made friends with many of the Indian children and became a fast friend of Charlie Bird. Charlie’s family lived near the agency. He had two brothers and two sisters. He was the youngest boy and wanted to live as the white men did. He was too young to know the old Choctaw’s ways. He taught young Sam his native tongue and Indian sign language. Sam would use this knowledge later many times in his future life.